Sugar, diabetes and obesity

Details

Created on 08, July, 2018

An article in a major newspaper claims that "Sugar is the driving force behind the diabetes and obesity epidemics."

The article's premise is false and misleading. Type 1 diabetes is mostly from genetic factors, and type 2 is a combination of factors, including lifestyle (being overweight, lack of exercise, diet), with diet being a risk factor not due to any one food but to a lack of balance in the diet (fiber, carbohydrate, fat, protein, etc.) as well as overeating (portion sizes per eating event). Obviously it is not healthy to eat large amounts of sugar (or any one food substance as a major percentage of caloric intake), but no one food category is "causing" this epidemic. Articles that push this over-simplistic myth are generally written by those with no background in nutrition and/or medicine.

American Diabetes Association - diabetes myths